welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm arunoday mukharji. the headlines: the taliban says its main search and rescue operations for victims of the quake in afghanistan are over — now the focus is on helping the survivors. translation: i ran towards my family but everything was under the rubble, even my shovel, so i couldn't do anything. when we took my family out, they were already dead. the us supreme court strikes down new york's law restricting the right to carry weapons in public. we cannot idly stand by and just watch our streets be flooded with guns due to more people being permitted to

legally carry firearms in public. counting is underway in two key uk by—elections for the conservative party, in the first test of voters opinions since the partygate scandal. we will have live updates ahead on the programme but for now, a quick check of more news making headlines. ukraine moves a step closer tojoining the european union as it's given official candidate status. and how a heroic coach made a dramatic rescue after a swimmer fainted to the bottom of the pool at the world aquatics championships in budapest. asi as i swam as fast as i could to grab her and pull as i swam as fast as i could to grab herand pull up as i swam as fast as i could to grab her and pull up to the surface, and once i pull her up, so i wasjust, my goal was only to make her breathe. live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it's newsday.

welcome to the programme. taliban officials in afghanistan say the main search for survivors from wednesday's devastating earthquake in the south—east of the country has ended. more than 1,,000 people are thought to have been killed in the remote part of the country. doctors say many children may be among the victims. relief efforts have been hampered by the destruction of already poor road and communication networks in paktika province, the worst—hit area. entire villages have been destroyed with survivors saying they are finding it difficult to bury their dead. our afghanistan correspondent secunder kermani is there and has this report. homes reduced to rubble, lives reduced to memories. "these were my son's

shoes," says agha jan. his three young children were killed in the earthquake as they slept, as well as his two wives. and when the roof fell down, what did you do? "i ran toward my family, "so i couldn't do anything. i shouted to my cousins, but when we took my family out, they were already dead. it's a 3—hour drive to the nearest big city from the worst—affected villages along largely dirt roads. here, practically every home is destroyed, every family grieving. the people here didn't have much to begin with, but they've seen their homes, their possessions — you can see them scattered amongst the debris —

and their loved ones disappear in a single terrible moment. in this one home, 18 people were killed. habib gul raced back across the borderfrom pakistan to help bury 20 of his family members. translation: if the world looks on us like brothers and helps- us, we will stay here on our land. if they don't, we will leave this place, where we've spent so long, with tears in our eyes. the taliban have been flying in aid on helicopters. the search—and—rescue effort has now finished. the most pressing need is shelter. families forced to live in tents, flanked by the remnants of homes they worked so hard to construct. khalid jan is now responsible for his five grandchildren. two of his sons and his daughter were killed in the earthquake.

translation: all my son's i children have been left to me, and i'm all they have left. the house and everything here has been destroyed. i'll never be able to rebuild it. aid agencies are delivering supplies, but this is a major crisis. here, prayers for the nearly 50 people killed in one tiny village alone. prayers needed too for those who have survived. secunder kermani, bbc news, paktika province. the taliban have appealed for more international support to help those affected by the earthquake. humanitarian agencies are rushing to get shelter, food and medicine to the worst—hit areas but the question is how to get

the aid to those who need it, and not into the hands of the taliban. our south asia correspondent yogita limaye, who's in kabul, says the international community will have to tread a very thin line. well, afghanistan doesn't have an internationally recognised government, and that's where the problem lies. you know, whenever a disaster strikes a country, particularly an economically weak one, what you see almost immediately on the ground are rescue teams from a host of countries around the world trying to help and relieve operations. that's not something which is happening here. as far as financial assistance is concerned, there are difficulties giving that directly to the taliban because there are sanctions against the group. and therefore it comes on to humanitarian agencies, which now for a long time have been providing this important bridge for international funds and aid to be delivered to the people of afghanistan.

the uk has said it's working with its partners in the un in the world food programme, as is america. india and pakistan have both said that they have delivered aid on the ground in this country, but in afghanistan, people were pushed into near universal poverty, the health care system is near collapse since the 15th of august, since the foreign funds which were running this country stopped coming in. and that's from then on has been entirely on humanitarian agencies to try to get any funds, any aid, any support from outside to the people of this country was that they were already stretched, now they are dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake. the us supreme court has upheld the right of americans to carry guns in public, striking down century—old restrictions in new york — that limited the ability of people to carry weapons openly. the decision could have ramifications for other states with similar regulations and is expected to allow more people to carry guns legally. the ruling comes amidst a raging debate across the us

over gun control especially after the recent school shooting in uvalde. our north america editor sarah smith has the details. the constitutional right to bear arms is dearly held in the united states, but what that means in practice is deeply controversial. today the supreme court ruled that individual states cannot force people to have a permit to carry guns in public. the president, myself, many of us are deeply concerned and troubled by this ruling today. it, i believe, defies common sense and the constitution of the united states. street protests and public opinion have been demanding tougher action on gun control after recent mass shootings. but new york state will now how to make it easier to carry guns on the streets. we can say with certainty, this decision has made every single one of us less safe from gun violence.

we cannot just watch we cannotjust watch our streets be flooded with guns due we cannotjust watch our streets be flooded with guns due to we cannotjust watch our streets be flooded with guns due to more we cannotjust watch our streets be flooded with guns due to more people we cannotjust watch our streets be flooded with guns due to more people being allowed to illegally carry firearms in public. we must take significant action to protect our city's residence. that's a wrap. many republican politicians proudly glorify gun ownership, insisting it is their right granted to them under the constitution's second amendment. this mean your second amendment right to keep and bear arms shall not be denied by an unelected bureaucrat. as the supreme court makes it easier to carry guns, congress is about to make it slightly harder to buy one. democrats and republicans have now agreed some limited gun control measures, including expanded background checks for prospective buyers under 21. this doesn't go nearly as far as the democrats, including president biden, wanted, but it will be the first gun control legislation passed

here in nearly 30 years. in a country that now has more guns in it that it has people. sarah smith, bbc news, washington. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. british airways workers at heathrow have voted to go on strike, prompting fears of a summer of flight disruption. the unite and gmb unions want the airline to reverse a 10 per cent pay cut imposed during the pandemic. ba has so far offered a one—off payment instead. after some of the worst flooding in more than 100 years, authorities in bangladesh are racing to get clean drinking water to millions of people left stranded. with floodwaters receding, they are trying to prevent the spread of waterbourne diseases. thousands of people have already fallen ill in one of the worst—hit areas in the extreme northeast. scientists have discovered the largest bacterium ever found on earth. the organism, called thiomargarita magnifica, lives in the mangrove swamps in the french caribbean. it's the size and shape of a human eyelash

and 5,000 times bigger than normal bacteria. researchers stress that it's completely harmless. three years after an artwork by graffiti artist banksy was stolen from a door at the bataclan music hall in paris, eight people have been convicted of theft or handling stolen goods. the mural titled sad girl was a tribute to the 90 people murdered in a 2015 terror attack on the venue. a hooded gang removed it january 2019 — it was recovered 18 months later in italy. counting is under way in two key uk by—elections for the conservative party in west yorkshire and devon. it's the first test of voters

opinions since the partygate scandal and the british prime minister's confidence vote. in wakefield, the conservatives are defending a majority ofjust over 3,000 and in tiverton and honiton — the tories have a much larger majority of more than 211,000. let's talk to bbc newsnight�*s policy editor, lewis goodall. but these by—elections into perspective. by—elections take place in the uk whenever there is a vacancy from a member of parliament either through death or scandal, and both of these cases are as a result of resignation, as a result of scandal. different sorts of scandals that we need to dwell on, giving an indication of the fact that conservative party will be struggling locally, and of course, they are struggling nationally as well, partly because of scandal, because of the partygate scandal which is so mired, borisjohnson�*s so mired, boris johnson's government, so mired, borisjohnson�*s government, where they've tried to move on and go to a

different news item and focus on policy areas. some revelation that would drag borisjohnson, a huge political damage that would occur for his government and reputation and then you combine all of that, we've already seen that cost him a by—election, a parliamentary seat in north shropshire last december. you combine that with what's happened since december, the real economic malaise which is started to take hold in the united kingdom, partly as a result of the after—effect of the pandemic, partly because of the pandemic, partly because of the ukraine war, some of the worst inflation in europe, the cost of living spiralling for many people out of control and indeed over the last couple of weeks, increasing industrial unrest. it really is an opportunity for voters to express their opinion about all those things. and in different sorts of seats, the two seats available and they are up tonight, you see different

challenges, so you have the labour party in wakefield, in west yorkshire, this is historically a labour seat, a labour seat from 1932 into 2019, one of those conservative gains which gave borisjohnson his 80— seat majority, a modest majority as you say, about three—point 8%. the labour party needs to win that seat. and it will be the first game for the labour party from a by—election in ten years. and in the other end of the country, in tiverton and honiton in devon, this is the sort of seat, huge conservative majority, enormous, 60% in the general election in 2019, a different sort of seed, rural and conservative, stronghold, this time the liberal democrats, the third party in england challenging them and that will come off the back of

several spectacular by—election wins that the lib dems have had and the conservatives of well. what will the effect of that? the first time a governing party is lost two seats in a set of by—elections since 1991, and it would further erode boris johnson's authority, further erode the confidence of conservative mps on him. yes, he survived narrowly, a confidence vote, but the whole premise and aura of boris johnson, his past political personality, his leadership, that the first really successful winner for the conservative party since margaret hatcher arguably, the first one to really win a weighty, chunky majority in a general election and he did it by threading the different parts of his coalition together, more working—class, combined with the more traditional conservative southern heartlands, and if he loses both of those seats

tonight, it will be a suggestion that it's unravelling but it doesn't mean he will lose the next general election but he will lose seats as parties do, but it would certainly put the frighteners up, scores and scores of conservative mps. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: we'll hear about this dramatic rescue at the world aquatics championships from the heroic coach herself. china marked its first day of rule in hong kong with a series of spectacular celebrations of. a huge firework display was held in the form of colony. the chinese president said the unification was the start of a new era for hong kong. the world's first _ new era for hong kong. the world's first clone _ new era for hong kong. the world's first clone has - new era for hong kong. tue: world's first clone has been produced of an adult mammal.

scientists in scotland have produced a sheep called dolly that was cloned in a laboratory using a cell from another sheep. using a cell from another shee -. ., , :: sheep. for the first time in 20 ears sheep. for the first time in 20 years russian _ sheep. for the first time in 20 years russian and _ sheep. for the first time in 20 years russian and american l years russian and american spacecraft have docked in orbit at the — spacecraft have docked in orbit at the start of a new era of cooperation in space. challenger powered past the lighthouse _ challenger powered past the lighthouse at _ challenger powered past the lighthouse at almost - challenger powered past the lighthouse at almost 50 - challenger powered past the . lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering _ lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the _ lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record _ lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that - lighthouse at almost 50 knots, shattering the record that had i shattering the record that had stood — shattering the record that had stood for _ shattering the record that had stood for 34 _ shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. _ shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. and - shattering the record that had stood for 34 years. and there | stood for 34 years. and there was _ stood for 34 years. and there was no — stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding _ stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the _ stood for 34 years. and there was no hiding the sheer- stood for 34 years. and there i was no hiding the sheer elation of richard _ was no hiding the sheer elation of richard brent _ was no hiding the sheer elation of richard brent and _ was no hiding the sheer elation of richard brent and and - was no hiding the sheer elation of richard brent and and his i of richard brent and and his crew— of richard brent and and his crew -- _ of richard brent and and his crew —— richard _ of richard brent and and his crew —— richard branson. i welcome back to newsday on the bbc with me arunoday mukharji in singapore. 0ur headlines: the taliban says its main search and rescue operations for victims of the quake in afghanistan are over, now the focus is on helping the survivors.

counting is underway in two key uk by—elections for the conservative party, in the first test of voters' opinions since the partygate scandal. the latest january the 6th committee hearing in washington has focused on the pressure they say former president trump put on thejustice department to overturn the 2020 election results. donald trump wanted to fire the acting attorney—general at the time and replace him with jeffery clark. three formerjustice department officials testified before the committee earlier, one of them was richard donoghue. point thatjeff donoghue. point that jeff clark donoghue. point thatjeff clark is i made the point thatjeff clark is not even competent to serve as the attorney general. he has never been a criminal attorney or conducted a criminal investigation and his life. and he kind of retorted by saying well, i've done a lot

of very complicated appeals and civil litigation and environmental litigation and things like that and i said that's right, you are an environmental lawyer. how about you give it to your office and we will call you when there is an oil spill? and i remember saying, that letter that this guy wants to send, that letter is a murder suicide pact, it is going to damage everyone who touches it. earlier i asked the bbc�*s peter bowes what the key takeaways were from thursday's hearings. i think the main takeaway is that we are now hearing from several former officials from the justice department about this alleged pressure that donald trump was putting on them and the department to essentially back him in his claims that he had won the election, that the result was fraudulent as a result of voter malpractice is. we heard from the former acting attorney generaljeffrey rosen during the trump administration that

during this crucial period leading up to january the sixth, that he had been in contact with donald trump or rather donald trump had been in contact with him almost every day perhaps with the exception of christmas day, suggesting that the justice department simply wasn't doing enough to support his claim that there ought to be an investigation into voter fraud, ought to be an investigation into voterfraud, and ought to be an investigation into voter fraud, and as we have just been hearing, into voter fraud, and as we havejust been hearing, other officials spoke as well, one suggesting that donald trump wanted the justice suggesting that donald trump wanted thejustice department to declare the election corrupt, and there has been a lot of reaction to that, we have heard from an attorney general under barack 0bama saying that this could well be the smoking gun that if perhaps there is evidence that donald trump was acting illegally. hereinafter hearing, the evidence seems to be piling up against trump. what kind of political impact have you seen growing since the time that these hearings started? t

growing since the time that these hearings started? i think these hearings started? i think the political — these hearings started? i think the political impact that - these hearings started? i think the political impact that we - the political impact that we are seeing now and perhaps there will be a crescendo over there will be a crescendo over the coming weeks and months will be on the stance of republicans as to who should represent them, who should be the presidential candidate in 2024. clearly the mid—term elections are crucial, especially for republicans later on this year but people are looking further ahead than that and i think there are some republicans now questioning, perhaps previously supporters of donald trump, as to whether he is indeed the best person to lead them into that 2024 election. perhaps persuaded by some of the evidence, some of the allegations, strong allegations made against donald trump during these hearings. european union leaders have approved both ukraine and moldova as official candidates for membership of the bloc. the president of the european commission, ursula von der leyen, said she was convinced that both countries would move

as swiftly as possible to implement necessary reforms, and hailed the decision as a much needed source of hope for those countries. let me stress that my am deeply convinced that our decision that we have taken today strengthens us all. it strengthens us all. it strengthens ukraine, moldova and georgia in the face of russian aggression and it strengthens the european union, because it shows once again to the world that the european union is united and strong in the face of external threat. president zelensky has welcomed the european union's decision. in a tweet he said:

0ur europe editor, katya adler, explains the importance of this moment for ukraine. president zelensky has been pushing for this moment he calls historic for a very long time, because it allows them to turn around to rush and say, love, —— look, we are ukraine, we belong in europe, we belong in the west, not in your russian sphere of influence. so he wanted the symbolism tonight. tomorrow, of course, he will be reminding the west that he also really needs that military and economic aid. from russia's perspective, it's actually hardening its stance on ukraine joining the eu, and why? welcome it says brussels is taking a much more active role these days in defence. as for the eu itself, well, leaders and there were really sincere in wanting to show solidarity tonight with war—torn ukraine.

at the same time, questions are being asked as to whether their bloc can afford to take on new members. and already got 27, already so dramatically different, the often can't find agreement on difficult issues like migration or russia's sanctions, so add more voices to the mix, ukraine, moldova or countries from the western balkans, and some here wondering, will that end up paralysing the eu from the inside? now to a dramatic rescue. the american artistic swimmer — anita alvarez — had to be helped from the bottom of the pool, by her coach, after fainting at the world aquatics championships. mark lobel has the story. it was a commanding performance by artistic swimmer anita alvarez in the world aquatics championship solo free final, everything seemingly going swimmingly in budapest — except her coach noticed her feet were slightly paler than usual. instead of staying up for air at the end of her performance, the american swimmer suddenly sank.

she had actually fainted. the crowd noticing something was not quite right. commentator: yes, we're not showing close—up pictures because it is a little bit disturbing, to say the least. her coach, andrea fuentes, was first on the scene. with lightning reflexes, the olympic medallist dived in. i knew i was the fastest swimmer there, and for sure, i was going to be faster than the lifeguards. so, ijust went, and when the lifeguard arrived, we would be two. but i wanted to have this solved before anyone else because i knew if somebody was going to be faster, it was me, so why not? it was important, it was more important than ever. i think i swam faster than any of my 0lympics! this was not the first time. alvarez collapsed during an olympic qualifier in barcelona last year — and yes, fuentes rescued her then, too. it's not so strange to us. it happens in every country. every time, we try to do a little bit better

than the other, because we hold our breath in a very limited situation. that's all for now, stay with bbc world news. hello there. showers have been making their way northwards through the night accompanied by the odd rumble of thunder. not as warm for the day ahead, and there will be some sunshine around certainly, but equally a rash of showers will develop as the day goes, that's because we got low pressure moving into the west now and throwing bands of rain or showers our way. we're are also seeing some misty, low cloud and fog coming into eastern scotland, and it will be a much warmer start to friday, quite a close night and end to the night. that mist and fog could hang around, cloudy for the northern isles, showers developing quite quickly turning heavy and thundery, and then more persistent rain pushes into the southwest of england, western wales and more notably northern ireland later in the day. it turns quite wet and breezy,

increasingly breezy, particularly in the west, so it will feel fresher here. we could still see 25—26 in the east, but not as warm for northern england, north wales or scotland as it was during the day on thursday. but still some very high levels of pollen despite a scattering of showers around across parts of the midlands, east anglia, up into lincolnshire in the southeast. we do see that band of rain turning more showery, pushing northwards during the evening and overnight. that low pressure centred, as you can see, to the west of us, and it's going to stay there. it's going to become stalled, slow—moving, and it's going to continue throw showers across the united kingdom, and because its low pressure, it makes the air conducive to seeing showers anyway, so some of them will be heavy, the odd rumble of thunder, but as the breeze increases later today and through the weekend, certainly unusually windy for the time of year. it will push those showers through quite quickly and freshen the air up. temperatures around about where they should be for the time of year, but some lengthier spells of rain certainly close to that area of low pressure across parts of northern ireland and scotland. we could easily see some lengthier spells of thundery rain pushing into the eastern side of england saturday night into sunday and then brushing close by to the east

of scotland. but otherwise, the onus on the frequency of the showers, intensity of the showers, will be in northern and western areas. really quite a brisk wind, gusts of 30—40 mph. so that's something to bear in mind if you're out and about through the weekend, otherwise temperatures once again into the low 20s. that low pressure system sat to the west will stay with us into the start of the new week, as you can see. still some showers around, more prevalent in the west, temperature staying in the low 20s at best.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. hello, it's adam in the studio. it's victoria in the studio. and mark, i would say celebrate, because some people are commiserating. six years since the vote to leave the eu, it's nigel farage. they're good to be here. i don't think anyone is celebrating. even ou? anyone is celebrating. even you? we — anyone is celebrating. even you? we celebrate - anyone is celebrating. even

you? we celebrate the - anyone is celebrating. even you? we celebrate the fact| anyone is celebrating. even i you? we celebrate the fact we it happened, we